Wonderland 2003

Critics score:
34 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: The film reveals no great truths about human nature or drug abuse, the dialogue is witless, the acting unconstrained. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: An unsettling, sordid, overly stylized and intensely well-done drama. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Wonderland never gives us a single reason to care about any of these people. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... astonishing and powerful piece of filmmaking from James Cox. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Wonderland is fast and frenetic and so unvarnished that it can make you feel unclean watching it. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A compelling journey into the depths of hell on earth. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The high quality of most of the acting makes this otherwise pointless and indulgent movie at least watchable. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Wonderland skips lightly along the sewers of human depravity as if the trip alone was worth the telling. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: Although it has a delectable cast, Wonderland skims over its seedy characters to glamorize drug addiction and the role porn star John C. Holmes had in four murders. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Muddled and largely unentertaining. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: For all Wonderland's kinetic energy, the mind wanders. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Wonderland is in your face. Any deeper connections, like those to heart and mind, get lost in the splash. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: The vaporous Wonderland never moves beyond its grungily romanticized view of the past. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Piles on the narrative devices, sonic distortions and gritty images to the point where all you want to do is reach out and wipe away some of the mess so you can decide if there's anything worth seeing. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: This sketch of John Holmes only shows a part of his world. And to reduce him to one part -- well, that's to only continue the treatment he got his entire adult life. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: The murders themselves, apparently revenge for the robbery of a high-roller, were indeed messy. But they don't hold a candle to the disarray that is director and co-writer James Cox's film. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Sometimes Wonderland does make you wonder why you're wasting your time with these losers. But there's also a lot here that stays with you. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: True crime procedurals can have a certain fascination, but not when they're jumbled glimpses of what might or might not have happened involving a lot of empty people whose main claim to fame is that they're dead. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: If for some reason you are fascinated by the Wonderland murders, look up the Rolling Stone article of 1989 that brought national attention to the gruesome case. Otherwise, your local cineplex has lots of choices with more redeeming social value. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Wonderland aspires to the grisly poetry of a James Ellroy novella but only achieves the ugliness of an 8-mm loop. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The main interest here is the acting, which is, by turns, entertaining or just entertainingly bad, with lots of grungy seriousness and Method-trained twitching, but also some moments of real gusto. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Rarely has so much of so little consequence been so closely examined. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: The Holmes story has fared better in a pair of documentaries. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: With its mannered, hyped-up style, James Cox's second feature has absolutely nothing to say about its characters and their lamentable actions. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Jonesing for headlines and gossip-buzz, Wonderland is too look-Ma for its own good. Read more